As China is scheduled to review -- and possibly pass -- the "anti-secession law" next month, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus yesterday said that it is considering a legislative resolution to voice the nation's opposition to the move.
"Because the legislature is the nation's highest representative voice of the people, we thought it would be feasible for the lawmaking body to make a resolution telling China that we are strongly against it," TSU caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (
Lo said that he plans to file a motion at the plenary legislative session on Tuesday, and then start collecting signatures from lawmakers. While at least 30 signatures are required for a petition to be valid, Lo said that he hopes to garner half -- 113 -- of the lawmakers' signatures.
In a bid to solicit support from all legislative caucuses, Lo said that he will personally visit caucus leaders from across party lines, while other caucus members will visit their counterparts.
While the final wording of the caucus' proposition has not yet been settled, Lo said that it will stress Taiwan's sovereignty and lambaste the anti-secession law.
"We'd like to address the fact that Taiwan is a sovereign state and is not part of China, and that China's laws do not have power here," he said. "We'd also like to criticize the anti-secession law for severely sabotaging peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Asia-Pacific region."
The caucus would like to send out the message that what China plans to do will only lead to a more remote relationship between Taiwanese and Chinese people and that the law will infringe on freedom and democracy, he added.
For fear that the caucus may not garner sufficient support for the petition, Lo urged Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Lo's proposition, however, was shrugged off by Lin Chin-hsing (
"I will not endorse the TSU's proposal, and I believe other members of my caucus will not like the idea of taking provocative actions to undermine the amiable atmosphere with opposition parties," Lin said.
Branding the TSU's planned move as "a political gambit to court the die-hard pro-independence electorate," Lin said that the DPP, as the ruling party, must look at a bigger picture during its decision making process.
"What a ruling party must do is to have the interests of the entire nation in mind, rather than just one specific party," he said.
"It is a fact that the pan-green alliance does not enjoy a legislative majority. It is only to the advantage of the country and the people that we seek reconciliation and cooperation with opposition parties, rather than continuing with political bickering and confrontation," Lin said.
Echoing Lin's opinion, PFP lawmaker Chou Hsi-wei (
For example, Chou said, Article 2 of the National Security Law (
The reason that he will not endorse the TSU's proposal, Chou said, is simply because he does not trust the TSU.
"I've seen, over the past years, so many proposals the TSU presented that are outrageously extreme and self-promoting," he said.
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